New IEA Boss Faces World Energy Landscape In Flux
PARIS/BRUSSELS, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The new head of the International Energy Agency faces dilemmas that challenge the purpose of the body set up to protect the interests of the West against the power of OPEC in the 1970s.
Fatih Birol of Turkey -- the IEA's respected chief economist -- takes over on Tuesday, replacing Dutch politician Maria van der Hoeven, a former economy minister whose four-year term has expired.
"There is a lot of expectation on Birol -- not just external performance, but crucially internal upgrade and institutional strategy," said one official on condition of anonymity.
Although speaking for big oil-consuming countries, the IEA finds member the United States once again a leading producer and replacing OPEC as a dominant force on world markets.
And major energy consumers China and India are not even members, presenting a headache for the Paris-based IEA's prized role as the leading forecaster and data repository for opaque energy markets.
Birol also has to convince the oil and gas community, traditionally central to the IEA, to shift towards lower carbon fuels as United Nations' talks, referred to as the Conference of the Parties (COP), on a new climate deal will take place in Paris at the end of this year.
"COP-21 must send a strong signal to investors to not lock in our energy system to a high-carbon future," Birol said in an email.
Environment campaigners are sceptical. They say Birol has always underestimated renewables and over-emphasised the continued role of fossil fuel.
"He is a very smart person. He knows the issue very well. But he is also very conservative," said Sven Teske, a senior renewable energy expert at Greenpeace, who was on the advisory board for the IEA's flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook.
Birol's credentials as a long-term IEA staffer, who has won the loyalty of his colleagues, may help in boosting morale, which insiders say is bruised.
"It's the first time somebody within the organisation has risen to the top job. In many ways, he has been the face of the organisation for some time," said Douglas Hengel, a veteran former U.S. diplomat who liaised with the IEA and is now at the German Marshall Fund think-tank.
"There are big morale problems," one official said, referring to silos preventing information flow and a lack of internal coherence across a spread of publications.
Birol will continue the drive for closer cooperation with Asian consumers. In a departure from tradition, his first official visit in September just after he takes office will be to China at Beijing's invitation, and not to an IEA member.
IEA membership is restricted to countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes the major economies of North America and Europe, as well as Japan and South Korea.
"The IEA hasn't got the same investigative powers over China and India as it has over the U.S. or Europe," said Jacques Percebois, an energy professor at Montpellier University in southern France.
(Editing by William Hardy)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- ExxonMobil Racks Up Discoveries in Guyana Block Eyed by Chevron
- Oil Market Sentiment Has Improved Significantly
- EU, US Eye Collaboration on Nuclear Materials
- EU Electricity Export to Ukraine Up 94 Percent in Two Years
- China Coal Output Falls for First Time since Government Ordered More
- USA Driving Activity to Increase to All-Time Highs
- BP Pulse Buys One of Europe's Largest Truck Stops
- UK CCUS Plans Outdated: Think Tank
- TC Energy to Sell Prince Rupert Gas Pipeline Project to First Nation
- I Squared Eyes Full Ownership of Europe Gas Storage Firm
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension